Child flipped over car while walking to school bus – miraculously unhurt

By Steve Huffman/Times-News

Published: Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 12:52 PM.

GRAHAM – A child escaped serious injury – miraculously, responding officers said – Wednesday morning when struck by a car while crossing a road headed to a stopped school bus.

The 8-year-old boy, a student at Haw River Elementary, was struck at 6:56 a.m. on
Pomeroy St
reet
near
Ardmore
Street
. The bus he was approaching was stopped, with its stop arm extended and
fla
shing lights activated.

Officers said the child was thrown over the car’s hood, roof and trunk, then jumped up and began talking almost immediately.

Asked if the situation had potential for a far more serious outcome, McGilvray replied, “Oh, yes. Good God, yes.”

Crystal
Lashawn Clay, 26, of
Ivy Road
, Graham, was charged with passing a stopped school bus and careless and reckless driving. She was driving a ’96
Toyota
. Officers said Clay tried to stop just prior to the accident, locking the brakes on her car before striking the child.

GRAHAM – A child escaped serious injury – miraculously, responding officers said – Wednesday morning when struck by a car while crossing a road headed to a stopped school bus.

The 8-year-old boy, a student at Haw River Elementary, was struck at 6:56 a.m. on Pomeroy Street near Ardmore Street. The bus he was approaching was stopped, with its stop arm extended and flashing lights activated.

Officers said the child was thrown over the car’s hood, roof and trunk, then jumped up and began talking almost immediately.

Asked if the situation had potential for a far more serious outcome, McGilvray replied, “Oh, yes. Good God, yes.”

Crystal Lashawn Clay, 26, of Ivy Road, Graham, was charged with passing a stopped school bus and careless and reckless driving. She was driving a ’96 Toyota. Officers said Clay tried to stop just prior to the accident, locking the brakes on her car before striking the child.

Clay was traveling north on Pomeroy Street while the bus was facing south. The child had to cross Pomeroy Street to board the bus. The boy – who was not identified – was transported to AlamanceRegionalMedicalCenter as a precautionary measure.

“It’s a product of not paying attention,” McGilvray said of motorists who pass brightly lit stopped school buses when they have their stop arms extended and flashers activated.

Conviction of passing a stopped school bus carries a penalty of four points on a person’s driver’s license. Insurance premiums, agents said, typically increase about 80 percent.

McGilvray said Graham police have received several complaints in recent weeks about drivers passing stopped school buses. He said officers were on patrol in school zones as recently as Wednesday morning on the lookout for such drivers.

McGilvray said Graham police worked in recent years with officers from other area law enforcement agencies in a crackdown known as Operation Stop Arm that targeted drivers who fail to stop for school buses. He said there’s a possibility another crackdown will soon be instigated.